Playhouse

What's better than a new car seat? The box, of course! We finally bought a second car seat for Molly so we wouldn't have to keep switching her seat between the Tahoe & the pickup. What a relief! This was a task that was getting increasingly harder for me to do with my big belly. Also, Britax car seats are wonderful, safe, etc. but a HUGE pain to switch between cars. The new car seat is a much cheaper version but still has to pass all the same safety standards and is much more compact & easier to maneuver. Just what we needed.

My new house!

It has been fun for Molly to have a new seat, but it's been really fun for her to have a new playhouse! All I did was cut a door and two windows and she has just loved it. It's true what they say-kids really do like the box just as much as the toy (or seat)!

No boys allowed!

Emily's Shower

A few weeks ago, Luke's Mom & I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law Emily. We had been planning it for quite some time and then I came down with the stomach flu right before the shower and didn't even think I was going to make it...but I did. Emily is due in January and looks so cute with her little baby bump.

Emily & all her gifts!

We had a great crowd at the shower and Emily got so many great gifts for their new baby girl. I'm so excited for Matt & Emily to start their family and for Molly to have a new little cousin. The other neat thing is that my other sister-in-law Amanda is due to have her second baby just weeks after Emily, with our baby due just weeks after theirs. Three new little ones in a matter of 2-3 months! It's going to be baby chaos the next time we all get together, but it will be so much fun!

After we found out we we're having a boy, I put all my girlie baby fabric to good use for Matt & Emily's little girl!

Swaddlers, burp clothes & cute little baby booties I made for the new little Miss Miller.

Getting Closer

As I approach week 26, I'm reminding myself just how close it's getting to our baby boy's arrival. I have been working on clearing out the guest room/office to turn into his room, but I have lots of sewing projects I want to finish before I can clean out too much stuff. Although I've been making tons of blankets and bump clothes, this is my most recent completed project:

It's a car seat cover for the infant car seat to keep the baby all snuggled up warm. I hadn't ever made one before and didn't have a pattern, but I figured it out and I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's lined with fleece and the little flap opens & closes so you can peek in on the baby. One project checked off the to-do list!

Thanksgiving

Although it was our year to spend Thanksgiving in Montana, we decided to stay in Missouri. Among many things, like having a new baby on the way, the cows, all the traveling we did this summer, etc. it just seemed really overwhelming to think about traveling for the holidays this year. So, instead of making the long haul to Montana we took a 2 hour drive to see Luke's family. We spent Thanksgiving day at Grandma Thelma's house and she cooked us quite the feast!

Molly with her Great Grandma Thelma & Grandma Debbie.

 I explained Thanksgiving to Molly, since I don't think she really understood it last year. I told her what I was most thankful for this year and then asked her what she was most thankful for. She never ceases to amaze me-she told me she is most thankful for cake and big daddy deer. Guess her Dad has made quite the impression with all his hunting this year and apparently she really loves cake!

Big hugs for Uncle Matt.

So thankful for little Miss Molly and all the joy she brings to our family!

 We hope everyone back in Montana had a great Thanksgiving. We we're sure thinking about you all and missing you.

Great Weather

These pictures were taken today-November 18th! Can you believe how green our yard is? Our yard wasn't this green all summer long and now it just looks great and is growing like crazy. This means more mowing for me, but it also means our cattle can finally get a taste of fresh grass this year-so I guess it's a good trade-off. We played outside today-drew on the sidewalk with chalk, played in the sandbox, fed the cats & cows, and swung in the swing.

Kelly & the cat enjoying the nice sunshine.

It was WAY too warm for Molly to be wearing mittens, but we had gone through her winter wear earlier today to see what still fit, and she was determined to wear her mittens.

Big Bed

Since the first of November, Molly has been sleeping in a twin bed! She is very proud of it. We just have the mattress & box spring on the floor so that she doesn't have far to fall if she rolls out, but she is doing just great in it. It takes more coaxing to get her to go to sleep, but she knows she isn't supposed to get out of the bed and has adjusted really well.

The deal with getting a "big girl" bed was that she couldn't use her "na-na" a.k.a. pacifier anymore. She had still been using it in the crib when she napped or went to bed for the night but now it is a thing of the past! Thank goodness! She only asked for it a time or two and hasn't made a fuss about it at all. Our little girl is growing up! Now, if we could just get the hang of potty-training!

November Already

Where did October go? Apparently we were busy, because it just flew by. There were a few highlights that I didn't mention on the blog earlier. October is really a month of birthdays: both my grandparents on my Mom's side, my Mom, Luke and several other friends and family members. Molly is really getting into "parties" whether or not it's much of a party. She can sing Happy Birthday and made sure Daddy had a white cake. Not sure why-but she was determined he needed a white cake.

Luke's 31st B-day

Also, I flew to Seattle for the weekend for our annual girls' trip. Since none of us had a baby or got married this year (it's been awhile since that happened!), we decided to go visit Lynmarie and check out her new house.

Lynmarie's house.

Besides the usual chatting & catching up, we spent time wedding dress shopping (for Lynmarie), seeing the sights of the big city, eating out & we even went to a movie (haven't done that in a LONG time).

Pike's Place Market where we bought some gigantic apples!

I was able to get a direct flight from St. Louis to Seattle so it was pretty easy traveling compared to the usual layovers and kid wrestling that tend to occur with our travels. Luke took over Mommy duty for a few days so I was able to go on the trip. He did great & I think him and Molly had some quality bonding time-and they both survived so that's the main thing!